COOK LOBBYIST LAW CALLED THE SAME OLD SONG WITH NEW WORDS

Wednesday was Judgment Day for the new version of Cook County's lobbyist law, and the judgment was that the new version isn't much better than the old.

As the deadline passed for lobbyists to file statements disclosing their activities during the past six months, critics derided the law as ineffective despite the move to strengthen it last year.

The law requires any individual or corporation trying to influence county contracts or legislation to file a statement disclosing their clients and how much they spent on their activities.

The revisions made last year expanded the definition of people who had to file disclosure statements, as well as toughening the penalties for not complying with the law.

Records showed that 23 lobbyists who are already on file as registered lobbyists failed to file disclosure forms.

But, even with the stricter penalties, they can be fined just $10 a day.

"The way the ordinance was before could be described as a tiger with no teeth," said County Clerk David Orr, whose office is responsible for administering the law. "Now with some of the changes, you could describe it as a lion with faulty dentures."

The law's perceived shortcomings could spur the County Board to pass an ethics law to plug some of the holes.

A proposed ordinance to do that has remained dormant, despite statements from County Board President Richard Phelan and some commissioners that it is needed.

Even the 59 lobbyists who filed statements before Wednesday's deadline didn't disclose much. Only five listed any kind of expenditure.

A lobbyist for one consulting firm, for example, said he spent $35 dining with a Phelan aide and $65 sharing a meal with the county comptroller.

"It is not working the way it should," Orr said. "My view is that what an ethics or a lobbyist ordinance should do is trace the money trail."

Critics said that the fact that few lobbyists revealed they had spent any money on lobbying illustrates one of the law's major problems.

A lobbyist can wine and dine and bestow gifts on a county commissioner, but under some interpretations, it doesn't have to be disclosed unless they were also talking county business at the time, said Tracy Litsey, executive director of Illinois Common Cause.